Friday Night Ramblings

Here’s an update on the farm. These pics won’t really do justice to how hard I’ve worked the last three days to accomplish this, but it’s the best I can do.

The newest cabin for the mushroom grove.From left to right, elm, ironwood, and maple. The elm and ironwood logs are from the trees that fell on the spring house. The maple ones are from the first fresh tree I cut on the hillside yesterday.The second maple from the hillside, about 26 feet long. Should produce six to seven more logs for the cabin.The bottom of the slope I dragged the trees down. The path goes up for several hundred feet.A shot of the hillside. Not sure it really captures the height and steepness of the hill, but the view from up there is pretty nice.My favorite shot of the cabins.

There are still three or four trees to get from the hill, but I started with the two highest. I figured that would make the others seem easier. There are two more maples, at least two more ironwoods, and one elm that are the right size for harvest. I’m only taking out what I need for the cabins and am trying to minimize the damage to the young growth. I want to keep that hillside as natural and unblemished as possible. The other hill will eventually be cleared more because it faces south and should be good for certain crops.

Cutting those two trees and getting them down the hill was backbreaking work and took a lot out of me, but the feeling of satisfaction is worth it. Once we have enough logs for five or six cabins, we’ll begin the inoculation process. With any luck, in the spring, we’ll have fresh mushrooms ready for market. Eventually, we plan to have about 36 cabins total, but it will take some time to get there. Once that’s rolling, we should have a fairly steady supply. I’m pretty excited about it.

Working on the farm and writing book four have been amazing experiences this summer. For the first time in many, many years, I feel like I’ve found my place. My goal is to make both of these endeavors my full-time professions over the next couple of years. Working on the land nourishes my creative spirit, and writing feeds my soul. I’m grateful to have had the time to do both this summer.